In Explanation and Understanding von Wright argues that if, as he suggests, a practical inference schema is adopted as an explanation model for actions, then it follows that historical explanations are non?causal. My criticisms are principally directed against his version of the Logical Connection Argument which attempts to show that the verification of the action description to be explained and the verification of the intention description which explains it are interdependent. Von Wright blurs the important distinctions (1) between acting with (...) an intention and acting intentionally; (2) between intention to perform an action and intention to bring about a consequence of it; and (3) between verification of intention descriptions in general and of a description of a specific intention. The ?conclusion? of his practical inference schema cannot be the appropriate historical explanandum and the explaining procedure that he suggests is shown to be ultimately circular. (shrink)

An examination of the statement, criticism, and reformulation of the Pirenne, Turner, and Weber theses as causal explanations makes possible a clarification of the nature and justification of causal theses in history. Criticisms of such theses typically attack either the description of the cause-phenomenon or the effect-phenomenon, or they attack the generalization or theory which justifies the claim of causal connection. Theses are defended by redescribing the phenomena so as to make the underlying theory a stronger justification. The analysis clarifies (...) the essential connection between description and explanation, and shows that "colligatory" descriptions are always theoretical relative to lower-level factual descriptions. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: The Counterfactual Character of Historiography Understanding Metaphysical Preliminaries Causal Counterfactual Analysis in Historiography Counterfactuals and Practical Reasoning Science and Counterfactuals References Further Reading.

Summary According to the contemporary hermeneutical school the distinguishing feature of the humanities is the capability of the inquirer to communicate with the object of his inquiry. This idea underlies K.-O. Apel's model for the humanities adopted from psycho-analytical therapy. It is argued (1) that there is no sense in which the object of the historical inquiry can be regarded as aKommunikationspartner of the historian; and (2) that when the traditionalVerstehen doctrine is re-interpreted counterfactually (e.g., If I were Caesar, then (...) ... substantiates my explanations of Caesar's actions), then the doctrine has an acceptable application to history and the charge of psychologism is removed. (shrink)

“All history is the re-enactment of past thought in the historian’s own mind,” wrote Collingwood in one of his succinct expressions of what seemed to him a universal truth about history. Since the appearance of his posthumous book The Idea of History in 1946, allusions to the reenactment doctrine have been most popular among writers on methodology of history. In particular, re-enactment has evoked the warm response of working historians. In many cases, however, mention of re-enactment has not revealed any (...) serious interest in the question of its meaning and nature. Some clarifications have been made, but in my opinion, most of them have not been in the right direction. (shrink)

“All history is the re-enactment of past thought in the historian’s own mind,” wrote Collingwood in one of his succinct expressions of what seemed to him a universal truth about history. Since the appearance of his posthumous book The Idea of History in 1946, allusions to the reenactment doctrine have been most popular among writers on methodology of history. In particular, re-enactment has evoked the warm response of working historians. In many cases, however, mention of re-enactment has not revealed any (...) serious interest in the question of its meaning and nature. Some clarifications have been made, but in my opinion, most of them have not been in the right direction. (shrink)